Tall trees lined the pathways, thick leaves swayed with the gentle breeze, and long branches created shadows, blocking the sun’s sweltering rays.
Panting heavily, calf muscles constricted tightly in exhaustion, toes and heels scread in agony, but she didn’t care as she pushed through, running as far as her feet would take her.
"Hey, Sophia, wait up." Her friend, who had agreed to et up with her at their usual spot, shouted behind her. "Is soone after your ass?" But for soone who was about to pass out, her friend still had the energy to jest around.
When she stopped and turned, she found her friend leaning against the shaded tree, holding her chest, and her breath caught in her lungs.
"More inhaling, Ashley. Less talking." She grabbed her water bottle, which was strapped around her waist, and drank a couple of gulps before handing it to her friend.
Unlike her, Ashley was not much of a runner. Her friend was just like Alia. Ashley would rather enjoy a nice book with a cup of coffee or a refreshing drink, lazing around in a comfortable chair.
Since she had transford into her new identity, running had beco part of her routine to maintain her figure and weight. Now, it had beco a habit.
"I don’t know why I kept listening to you," Ashley spoke in between filling her lungs and rehydrating her body. Her face was a clear picture of regret. "All you do is get in trouble."
"Because you might be the doctor, but I know better that running is good for your health." She patted her friend on the shoulder before dragging her to a bench nearby to rest.
Since waking up that morning, she had changed, grabbed her pair of running shoes, and taken her keys and phone from the bedside table.
Careful not to wake her husband, who still had his eyes closed on his side of the bed, she tiptoed her way out of the bedroom and left the mansion in her old, but reliable car.
The only people who saw her leave were Taylor and the guards.
"Fine! Running is good for my health, but not if you’re going to give a heart attack." Ashley countered as she leaned her back on the bench and extended her feet.
After a few minutes of letting her friend catch her breath, Ashley continued. "But anyway, what’s really bothering you?" Ashley asked, clearly her friend noticed her distress. "Don’t say it’s nothing because clearly your body is on edge."
"Wait!" Her friend examined her as if she were one of her patients. "Sothing is different. You’re acting different." Her eyes appeared confused, baffled.
"I think you need more water." She pointed at the water bottle. "It’s obvious. You’re hallucinating." But no matter how she tried to divert her friend’s attention, she knew Ashley was already onto her.
"Anyway, did Jacob return?" Her friend hadn’t ntioned Oliver’s friend after the first ti that he ca to the hospital and looked for her.
"Nope, he hadn’t," Ashley said, turning her head left and right. "Maybe, you’re right. Maybe it was nothing. I’m just being paranoid."
That might be the case, feeling slightly relieved that her cover was still safe.
"Maybe... but just in case," She might be overreacting, but she had a reason for asking her friend to et her. "Can you dig up my dical report on the day I was brought under your care?" She wanted to check on sothing.
"You an your delivery records?" Her friend clarified, slightly puzzled by her request. "What for?" Her friend explained that it might be difficult since it had been years ago, but not impossible.
"I just want to check on sothing." She explained, but did not provide any details. "Can you also get my son’s record?" If soone had access to them, it was her friend since Ashley had been in charge of her care.
At that ti, she never bothered to look at the doctor’s reports since she had been too distraught with her family’s death to care.
But now, she had this nagging feeling that she needed to look into that accident. At that ti, she had no resources to have her parents’ and child’s death investigated.
"I already hired a private investigator to look into that accident." She had always suspected that the car crash was no accident, but without evidence or witnesses, she had no case.
"Do you really think Oliver and his father were involved in their deaths?" Ashley asked, looking rather skeptical. Her friend still believed that Oliver might be innocent, if not his father.
"Oliver might have been different when we were together, but as you can see, he is no different from his father." After all, he was now the Mafia Don.
Last night, she swore the man that she was with was the old Oliver she knew. The sweet, kind, hardly could kill a fly, man that she had loved and swore to spend the rest of her life with.
However, when she woke up this morning and stared at the man lying next to her, she knew that he was not the sa man. The scar underneath his chin, on his shoulder, on his chest and stomach, and a few on his back told her of the life that he had chosen to live.
It was a life of danger, chaos, and violence. A life far from what she and Oliver had dreamt of when they were still together.
"Oliver had chosen to follow his father’s path and his father’s father before him." A conclusion she had co to accept. But it didn’t an that she was giving him a free pass.
Once she discovered that Oliver and his father had anything to do with her family’s misfortune, she would make sure that they would pay for all the pain they had caused her.
"Let see what I can do." Ashley didn’t make any promises, but she knew that her friend would do anything to help her. That was all she needed from her.
As they continued their jog, she stumbled unexpectedly into an old friend. Like a tornado, it ca out of nowhere, and it swept her off her feet.
"Ahhh!" She found herself sprawling on the green grass, her ass aching from the impact. Suddenly, the cut on her foot throbbed, adding to her tornt, making her grimace in pain.
The cut from last night’s accident wasn’t really that bad as she initially thought. But rolling in the glass must have bruised her previous injury.
"I’m sorry, Sophia." A familiar voice hurriedly apologized. "He just misses you so much." The man said, pointing to the offending party.
"Kenji, is that true?" She finally turned to the dog that sat unmoving on his spot as if guilty of his mischievous behavior. "Did you miss ?" She asked, and this ti, the golden retriever wagged its beautiful tail as if to answer her.
"Well, I miss you, too." Of course, she could never be angry with the dog as she patted her legs, beckoning the well-trained dog to lie on her lap. Then, with gentle strokes, she patted the dog’s head.
"Actually, I have been aning to talk to you." Kenji’s Japanese owner said, making her look up from petting his dog.
For a few minutes, they stood in the park, discussing a few things, but later on, they parted ways.
"As much as I love to run with you, I need to get back to the hospital." Her friend couldn’t run fast enough, using a phone call, just to get away from her.
Since her injury was already hurt, she also called it a day, returning to her car, and driving back ho.
Truthfully, jogging was just her excuse to get out of the place. After last night, she knew she needed to clear her head.
An early confrontation with her husband was exactly what she wished to avoid, especially when she couldn’t understand how she truly felt about him.
She knew she wanted him to pay for her family’s death. But another part of her wanted to declare his innocence in all of it.
"Was it even possible? Was he innocent?" She mumbled, her mind circled around the idea, while her body drove in automatic.
But without evidence, could she convict him?
As soon as she parked her car at the front door, sobody was already waiting for her on the steps.
"Mom, where have you been? Dad has been looking for you?" Caleb ran to the passenger’s window, looking quite concerned.
It was then that she realized that she had left her phone in the car all this ti. When she checked it, the screen displayed several missed calls and unread ssages.
"Oh! I..." But before she could say more.
Aw! Aw! Aw!
The sound of barking echoed behind her. Followed by the sound of her son’s amazent.
"Who’s that?" The boy exclaid excitedly as his eyes shifted from hers to the dog that knelt behind her, extending its head on the front seat.
"Oh, that..." She had almost forgotten about him. He had been so quiet in the car ride that she barely noticed that he was sitting in the back.
"He’s Kenji." She said, introducing the dog to her son. "Is it ok if he’ll be staying with us for a few days?" She asked, suddenly concerned that she had just accepted such an enormous responsibility of adopting the dog for a few days without getting her husband’s permission.
Her Japanese friend had a family ergency and had to return to his ho country. But he couldn’t take his dog with him. So, he had asked her if she could care for him while he was gone, since Kenji was already comfortable around her.
Of course, she readily volunteered without thinking about her husband.
"Oh, he’s definitely welco to stay here." The boy said excitedly, gladly accommodating their unexpected guest.
"Where have you been?" Another voice joined them. "And who’s he?"
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